Lakeland, FL
Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Lakeland ranks 269th for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 226th for income. A household earns $66,779 a year while median rent runs $1,484/mo, making it expensive relative to what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 3% below the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is air quality (52nd of 300), while commute is the soft spot (286th). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 208th and home prices 153rd among the 300 metros CityLedger tracks.
For your salary & household
Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.
On $75,000 for just you in Lakeland, your take-home is worth about $63,118 once local prices are factored in — local prices stretch it further than the U.S. average.
Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.
The numbers
Income & cost
- Median income
- 226th of 300↑28.8%$66,779
- Cost of living?The local price level vs. the U.S. average of 100 (BEA). Lower means cheaper. This is raw prices, not adjusted for income.
- 183rd of 30097 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $68,744
- Per-capita income
- $33,776
- Full-time pay
- $41,528
Housing
- Median rent
- 208th of 300↑48.7%$1,484/mo
- Home value
- 153rd of 300↑74.1%$305,400
- Property tax
- $2,245/yr · 0.7%
- Sales tax
- 6.95%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 235th of 3005.4%
- Bachelor's+
- 251st of 30025.2%
- Avg commute
- 286th of 30031.4 min
People
- Population
- 852,878
- Population change
- +17.7%
- Median age
- 39.3 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 15.5%
- Broadband
- 94.2%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 52nd of 30039
- Natural-hazard loss
- 214th of 300$16/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 250th of 30022.4%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 19.7%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. EPA, FEMA, CDC, NOAA — every figure's source is listed on our methodology page. Data built 2026-06-14. ↑↓ mark the change since 2019.
How CityLedger scores it
Transparent weights — see our methodology.
Strengths
- + Air quality
Watch-outs
- – Affordability
- – Household income
- – Rent
- – Job market
- – Education
- – Commute
- – Hazard safety
- – Health
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — winter haven gilbert ap.
What jobs pay in Lakeland
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Family medicine physicians
- $247,090
- IT managers
- $161,180
- Financial managers
- $151,440
- Pharmacists
- $142,380
- Lawyers
- $122,870
- Software developers
- $122,200
- General & operations managers
- $96,220
- Registered nurses
- $84,030
- Civil engineers
- $81,840
- Accountants & auditors
- $76,820
- Web developers
- $66,770
- Police officers
- $66,700
- Secondary school teachers
- $58,000
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $57,090
- Electricians
- $54,920
- Plumbers
- $51,220
- Elementary school teachers
- $50,420
- Carpenters
- $45,970
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $45,850
- Construction laborers
- $39,470
- Customer service reps
- $38,750
- Waiters & waitresses
- $35,270
- Janitors
- $32,510
- Retail salespersons
- $31,820
- Cashiers
- $29,900
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS 2025 — annual median wage. Cross-industry, all experience levels.
Where new residents move from
The states sending the most people to the Lakeland metro, by estimated movers (U.S. Census 2022 migration flows, 5-year). Moves from elsewhere in Florida are excluded to show where out-of-state arrivals originate.
- New York2,282
- Illinois1,744
- Pennsylvania1,742
- New Jersey1,585
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Lakeland
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Lakeland metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Lakeland metro?
- Median gross rent across the Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL Metro Area is $1,484 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Lakeland.
- What is the median household income in the Lakeland metro?
- A typical household in the Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL Metro Area earns $66,779 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Lakeland expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL Metro Area runs about 3% below the U.S. average (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024) — prices are lower than average, before accounting for local pay.
- Does a paycheck go far in the Lakeland metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $68,744 (versus its face value of $66,779). CityLedger rates the Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL Metro Area expensive for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Lakeland metro?
- The median home value across the Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL Metro Area is $305,400 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Lakeland metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL Metro Area is 5.4% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).